The Baltimore Orioles suffered yet another beat down at the hands of New York this evening. This time behind all-star pitcher John Means. While Means landed a couple of decent pitches for strikes, overall he was an ineffective as everyone else has been against New York this year. Means’ line: 3.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 1 K.
Means surrendered a solo homer to LeMahieu on the first pitch of the game. Means, along with most Oriole pitchers it seems in this series, seemed intent on throwing almost exclusively fastballs. And those fastballs were hit a long way by one of the best lineups in baseball.
Now ironically, that was the only homer surrendered in the game by the O’s. So if there’s a silver lining, it’s that they didn’t allow a multi-home run game. And on the flip side, the Orioles themselves got homers from Anthony Santander in the fourth, Stevie Wilkerson in the fifth, and Renato Nunez in the ninth. And that as they say, is it.
Everything that New York has touched this year has turned to utter gold. It’s really amazing and semi-tough to believe. Every player they’ve brought up from their farm system or signed as needed has produced. And some of them have produced big time.
When the likes of Ford, Tauchman, or Maybin at being plugged into the lineup and producing at will in the stead of injured players (who in theory are more talented), to be blunt you know you’re screwed. It just seems that whomever put the pinstripes on this season turned into a superstar.
On the flip side, the Orioles seemingly have the fruits of their labor turn to brass. Alex Cobb‘s our for the season. Mark Trumbo‘s missed the entire year to this point. And even Means, the Orioles’ lone all-star representative, hasn’t lived up to his billing in the second half.
We can go back even further than this. The signing of free agent pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez was widely seen as a great move, according to many pundits. I myself thought it was a good move, and would help shore up the pitching staff. Jimenez was a veteran and he knew how to win.
But it turned to brass. Without showing any numbers, everyone remembers that. Jimenez just didn’t pan out as a positive for the O’s. And go back further than that; look at Glenn Davis. It just seems that whatever they touch goes by the wayside. And it’s uncanny.
The series concludes tomorrow at Yankee Stadium. Dylan Bundy gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s J.A. Happ. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.
Birdland Crush 